No diamond shined brighter in New York City Thursday night (June 25) than Lauriana Mae as she graced the stage at the Pianos showroom in Lower East Side. Performing her EP for the first time in the city of lights, Lauriana presented her audience with a totally re-amped show. Catering to the city’s elements, Lauriana performed with her band, The Pains along with other additions such as her perfectly pitched backup vocalists and even one very talented trumpet player (for extra jazzy vibes).

So the first thing I’d like to address about the performance was Miss Lauriana’s image, and let me tell you, she is the only one that can pull off a full head of long, blonde braids, dreads, whatever. She looked cooler than any of the thousands of people I saw in the city that day. And when she started singing—yup, then she really was the most badass chick in all of New York City. But everyone there already knew that (and if you don’t know, now you know).

Lauriana Mae performed her EP City of Diamonds,along with a couple of older tracks to a showroom packed with people all there to support her and her music. I’d like to note that I don’t use the word “packed” lightly here. What I really mean is that the place was at its capacity. I could barely move… it was awesome. Lauriana’s parents, friends, Peter Rosenberg from Hot 97 and even Pete Ganbarg, head of A&R at Atlantic Records all were happily admiring Lauriana from the depths of the crowd. With a turn out like that, you know she’s worth everything to see perform live.

The audience itself was highly interactive, constantly cheering on Lauriana and chanting her songs back to her. Something in particular I noticed was the overly enthusiastic request from numerous people wanting her to perform an older track of hers, “Money Mae.” This just goes to show the crowd was comprised of people who have been rocking with her from the beginning.

As for the actual show itself, it was nothing shy of phenomenal, per usual. However, the entire performance was re-mastered to adhere to city standards, after all, we were in the city of diamonds—might as well have a performance to meet those standards. Besides kicking off with the same opening jam, “Protect Ya Neck” and concluding with “City of Diamonds,” the overall sound of her songs was quite different, but in the best possible way. This time around, the show had a little extra dose of soul to make it something truly remarkable.

Again, a favorite of the night had to be one of her first songs performed, “This Pain,” which showed off Lauriana’s natural energetic chemistry with her backup band. Everyone vibed off of each other to produce something brilliant and the audience was definitely into the new sound. The intro leading up to this song was especially sultry and entirely sexy, an organic feel like no other. The rest of the show followed in the same mesmerizing fashion.

Overall, the live show was perfectly crafted to meet city standards and Lauriana Mae was once again, flawless. Her performance definitely pleased the packed house, even earning her some new fans from the other bands who stayed around just to watch her. Jersey may be her home, but the city now owns her beautiful soul.